Essay --

Since the beginning of time, man has been defined as a carnivore devouring all meets for their cultural, religious and everyday lifestyles. But now, people are starting to realize that eating meat is also harmful to the environment and our health. It has been said that becoming a vegetarian would help prevent cruelty to animals and reduce the impact on the environment. An environmental scientist named Thomas Robbins said â€Å"we can eliminate world hunger out of society if people were to maintain a vegetarian diet.† Producing and manufacturing beef tend to leave our environment to suffer from air and water pollution. Animals tend to take up a lot of resources from farms and countryside’s such as water, top soil, and fossil fuels. As our planet begins to degrade from social and environmental issues, cultures around the world need to start thinking about change in their diets and lifestyles in order for future generations to succeed. It is not if it will ever happe n, it is when it is going to happen. The first issue of having a meat eating diet is the depletion of earth’s natural res... Essay -- Since the beginning of time, man has been defined as a carnivore devouring all meets for their cultural, religious and everyday lifestyles. But now, people are starting to realize that eating meat is also harmful to the environment and our health. It has been said that becoming a vegetarian would help prevent cruelty to animals and reduce the impact on the environment. An environmental scientist named Thomas Robbins said â€Å"we can eliminate world hunger out of society if people were to maintain a vegetarian diet.† Producing and manufacturing beef tend to leave our environment to suffer from air and water pollution. Animals tend to take up a lot of resources from farms and countryside’s such as water, top soil, and fossil fuels. As our planet begins to degrade from social and environmental issues, cultures around the world need to start thinking about change in their diets and lifestyles in order for future generations to succeed. It is not if it will ever happe n, it is when it is going to happen. The first issue of having a meat eating diet is the depletion of earth’s natural res...

Shark Attacks

On 11 July, 1916 Rensselaer Cartan Jr. saw a looming dark figure and noticed a large fin protruding from the water. A shark, the newest fear of many after the several attacks that occurred just days before. Yet he was 17 miles inland, he knew what he saw and set out to warn the town of the â€Å"sea monster† looming in the creek. â€Å"No way† were the thoughts of many as they heard Caratan Jr. tell his tale, and they continued on with their normal lives, despite his desperate cries of fear and warning. The attacks of Lester Stilwell and Stanley Fisher show that the technology of this era was very un-advanced, this was also the first recorded shark attack in fresh water, and the amount of time it took for a doctor to reach the place of the attack was lengthy and costly. The technology in this era was very weak in comparison to today’s modern medicine and was not efficient in life if death situations. In this time there was no ambulances and the way to be rushed to the hospital was by train and by automobile. If theses attacks had occurred in modern times, the death of Fisher may have been stopped. The death of Stilwell was definite, due to the fact that the shark mangled Stilwell’s body beneath the water, where he drowned. He also would have died from sheer amounts of blood loss and the fact that no one would have reached the eleven year old boy on time. Though modern technology has changed the amount of help that doctors can provide patients the patient, must be first saved from the cause of death. In this case the shark did not let young Stilwell have the opportunity of medical treatment that he so desperately needed. These attacks were a shock to the world because they occurred in a creek seventeen miles inland. Bull sharks have been found in various fresh water sources, sometimes far upriver or upstream in some cases, their high tolerance for fresh water nearly unique among shark species. (Davidson) The bull shark is a shark that is known to be found in modern times to swim into the mouths of rivers to find better prey. This was unknown to the people of 1916 as was many facts of the entire species of sharks. Nobody thought a shark would travel so far inland and in a creek no larger than 45 feet across. (capuzzo 89) The shark had been allowed to travel so far up due to the fact the the tide was at its highest point due to the lunar cycle. (capuzzo 91) The shark was easily able to maneuver and find its prey in the murky water. The amount of time that it took for a doctor to reach the scene, where Stilwell and Fisher were attacked was far too long. According to Julius Kish, no doctor lived or worked in the town of Matawan in 1916. This may have contributed to the fact that Fisher died and did not receive medical attention right away as was needed. The only immediate he received was that of his friends, who were in shock. His friends made a makeshift tourniquet using rope to stop the excessive blood flow. (Capuzzo 101) This was not enough to save the mans life, he needed immediate medical attention. Stanley fisher slowly began to die as he waited for the doctors to arrive to treat his wound, a large chunk of flesh missing from his pelvis. Fisher’s wounds were dire, yet he willed to live. â€Å"That afternoon in 1916, however, the treatment Stanley Fisher required was two hours and thirty-nine minutes away. † (Capuzzo 101) At this time hospitals lay far apart and the travel to a hospital may be too far and by the time patients reach the hospital, death has already set in. When Fisher pulled his body out of the water he lied there in a pool of his own blood. (capuzzo 100) As the blood would continue to flow he was at risk for blood loss and also diseases of having an uncared for open gash. With such a limited supply of medical attention in this era caused casualties that would be routine in todays modern age. The attacks of 1916 started an epidemic of natural fear against man eating sharks. Lester Stilwell’s body took two days to resurface. In those two days rumors flowed through America on what had happened to the boy. The curiosity on what caused this â€Å"rouge† shark to go on such vicious attacks initiated people to begin researching these mysterious predators. presently we now no much more about sharks and continue to research to better understand how these suspicious animals tick.

Argument Against Gun Control Essay

Final Paper: Argument Against Gun Control The argument on firearm regulation has been a heated discussion for many years. On one side of the debate, we have people in favor placing restrictions on guns, while, on the opposite end of the spectrum, we have people fighting the regulation of guns. People in favor gun restrictions believe gun control can reduce crime ,while, the people against gun control believe having the right to bear arms is an effective crime deterrent. I believe that every law abiding citizen should be able to carry a gun and defend themselves against people who intend to harm them.Gun control laws are simply ineffective and they have an adverse effect on crime. Instead of reducing crime, gun control laws just simply take guns out the hands of good people and puts the guns into the hands of the bad guys. Gun control laws do not deter criminals from possessing firearms. Whether or not there’s a law restricting gun use, criminal will always find a way to get a gun because criminals are less likely to obey laws. That’s why they are called â€Å"criminals†. Also there’s no law that can stop the supply and demand of the illegal arms trade. If there’s money to be made in the black market, someone will profit from it. Criminals can easily obtain a gun through the black market. An unnamed felon was quoted, â€Å"There’s guns everywhere. If you got the money you, can get a gun.† If a criminal wanted to get a gun,they are not likely to walk into a store to buy one. Therefore, they could care less whether they had a background check or not. No law can stop criminals from arming themselves to protect themselves. Most criminals have lots of enemies and they rather get caught with a gun than get caught without one. (Stossel). The more gun control rules and regulations there are, the happier the criminals will be, for they know the more gun laws there are the less chance they have of having a crime victim defend themselves with a lawfully-owned  firearm. In many right to carry states, crime statistics are lower than the states with gun laws. The reason why is because guns are used more defensively than criminally. Criminals are usually rolling the dice when they are targeting law abiding citizens in right to carry states. (Polsby) Criminals do not fear the police or other authorities. What they fear most is the citizens who might be potentially armed. It makes it harder for criminals because they do not know what to expect from them if they’re planning to rob them. They’re either fortunate to have an unarmed victim or they become a victim with a citizen that is ready to shoot and defend their families. (Stossel). Gun control laws only affect the citizens who follow the law. The law does not apply to the criminals. Regardless if theres a gun ban or not, criminals will find a way to obtain guns. The gun laws have no way in curtailing the illegal arms trade. In Chicago, handguns are not for sale legally. Only shotguns, rifles and ammunition can be bought with people with a Firearm Owners Identification Card. The Chicago area is one of the most difficult places to legally obtain a gun. In order to get a gun license, people have to go through a background check and wait up to a month to legally carry a weapon.(Polsby). While it is difficult to legally possess a gun, it is way more easier to illegally carry a gun in Chicago. There are thousands of unregistered firearms in the streets with thousands more coming in every month. Banning the sale handguns in Chicago makes no difference as well too. People can go elsewhere to buy a gun. They can go out of town or even out of state to buy a gun with Indiana and Wisconsin in close proximity.(Moorhouse and Warner). Another example why gun control law are ineffective is the staggering increase in crime in England since they imposed a ban on guns. In 1997, England passed a ban on all guns, which makes it illegal for all citizens to carry guns. England’s gun sanctions made it one of the most strictest law in the world. The new law only created an illusion of the country being more safer. Instead of reducing crime, the law put it’s citizens at the mercy of criminals who are well assured that their would be victims are unarmed and defenseless. In the two years after the law was enacted, gun related crimes  increased to 40% and armed robberies rose to 53%. From 1997 to 2001, violent crimes more than doubled. People are six times more likely to be robbed at gunpoint in London compared to New York. In the United States, the occurrence of home burglaries is 13% because the majority of burglars fear armed homeowners more than they fear the law. England’s burglary statistics are 5 t imes higher compared to the United States at 55%. England’s gun ban created the unintended consequences of lawlessness in the streets, as well as, it did not stop criminals from possessing guns and committing crimes. (Malcolm) Even in the United states where states and cities that passed strict gun laws have found them to be ineffective. The places where gun control laws are the most strictest are places that have the most crimes are committed with firearms.(Piquero). Of the 15 states that have the highest homicide rates, 10 have very restrictive gun laws. New York, for example, has one of the most restrictive gun laws in the nation has 20 percent of the nations total of armed robberies. Another example, Washington D.C., since guns were banned in 1976 the murder rate has risen 200 percent. In Chicago, the city consistently had one of the highest homicide rates in the nation since they enacted a ban on gun in 1982. In May 2010, a month before the Supreme Court overturned the ban, Chicago already had 113 homicides for the year.(Piquero). Since gun restriction laws were repealed by the Supreme court in 2010, Chicago and Washington D.C. received significantly lower crime rates. The murder rate in Chicago in the first six months of 2011 is 14% lower than the first six months of 2010. This is the first significant drop in the murder rate since gun sanctions were first passed in 1982. In 2008, the Supreme Court lifted the gun ban in D.C. in the case of the District of Columbia vs. Heller. Since the gun ban was repealed, the murder rate in D.C. has dropped 35% from 2008-2010. The rate of assault with weapons decreased by 37% and armed robberies fell as well too by 25% (Lott). These statistics further prove how ineffective gun control laws are. Not only they do not work in reducing crime they create adverse effects on crime. Instead, they make the problems worst. I believe that the right to bear arms is an unalienable right and I don’t believe that government have that right to take it away. I feel that all citizens have the right to protect themselves and their families. Gun laws restricting the use of guns does not help law abiding citizens. These laws only take away the ability of each citizens to defend themselves and makes us helpless against criminals. Gun control only creates an illusion that a society is safer and it does not solve the root cause crime. One cannot solve the crime problem by just simply taking away guns. The crime problem goes way deeper than just guns. Criminals will find a way to get guns regardless if theres a strict law or not . Most criminals are opportunist and having a strict gun law only gives them the opportunity to commit more crime with less worry about that person being armed. I believe that there is other ways to fight crime, however, I don’t believe gun control is the answer to making our world a safer place.

The Global Fast-Food Industry

Colonel Harland Sanders signed up his first franchise in Salt Lake City, Utah in 1952. In 1956 he sold the Corbin, Ky. restaurant he owned, and began traveling across the United States to sell new franchises. Later that year he sold his first international franchise in Canada. By 1960 there were more than 200 Colonel Sanders Recipe Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) outlets. In 1963 revenues were over $500 million and the number of outlets had increased to over 300. In 1974 at the age of 74, he sold the business to Jack Massey and John Brown for $2 million, one of the great bargains in business history. The Colonel stayed on with the company in a ceremonial role, often helping to open new franchises. Brown and Massey grew the business throughout the United States over the next several years and in 1966 took the company public, listing it on the New York Stock Exchange and the Colonel was allowed to purchase the first 100 shares. The year 1969 was a crucial one in the history of the company with the first major penetration into international markets outside North America by acquiring franchises in England and Japan. By 1971, there were more than 2400 franchises and 600 company-owned restaurants spread throughout the United States and 47 other countries. 1971 became another key year in company history with the sale of KFC to Heublein. This was Heublein†s first significant entry into the restaurant business and it did not go smoothly. By 1977 restaurant quality had declined and the Colonel was upset. Only about 20 new restaurants were being opened per year. In response, Heublein implemented a new strategy emphasizing clean restaurants, product consistency across franchises and better service. Old franchise buildings were remodeled. In 1982 R. J. Reynolds Inc. (RJR), in an attempt to diversify beyond the tobacco business, acquired Heublein for $1.2 billion. KFC was profitable and growing again, but Colonel Sanders never saw the end result of Heublein†s strategy in the late 1970†³s, because he died in 1980. RJR continued to run KFC as an autonomous business for several years. In 1985 it acquired Nabisco and in 1986, in preparation for the subsequent move to take RJR Nabisco private, it sold KFC to PepsiCo Inc. for $840 million, over the objections of former Heublein chairman, Stuart Watson. Also this year the Colonel Sanders Technical Center in Louisville, Kentucky was established. The acquisition by PepsiCo was a significant turning point in the company†s history. In previous acquisitions by Heublein and RJR, KFC had been operated as a separate entity, although in different ways. Heublein tried to use its own managers to operate KFC, while RJR adopted a completely hands off approach. PepsiCo was looking to the acquisition of KFC to create some synergy within its other operations. Recently restructured into three major divisions, soft drink, snack foods and restaurants, PepsiCo could cross-pollinate between divisions, for instance by selling its soft drinks in restaurants. PepsiCo†s culture was also much different than KFC. PepsiCo placed a strong emphasis on employee performance, while KFC†s culture was more laid-back in the southern tradition. In 1991 a change was made that was to have unintended consequences. Kentucky Fried Chicken decided to change their name to KFC for several reasons, according to the web site Snopes.com, A move to de-emphasize â€Å"chicken† because KFC planned to offer a varied menu that included other types of food. (The Boston Chicken corporation took the same approach for the same reason, changing their name of their retail food outlets to Boston Market.) A desire to eliminate the word â€Å"fried,† which has negative connotations to the increasingly health-conscious consumer market. A recent trend towards the abbreviation of long commercial titles, as demonstrated by other companies' employing shortened forms of their names, such as The International House of Pancakes (IHOP) and Howard Johnson's (HoJo). As a result of this name change, rumors later began circulating throughout the internet that the government had forced KFC to change its name because it was no longer using chickens. According to the rumor, KFC was producing a genetically altered chicken with more than the normal amount of appendages. In spite of the fact that some of these claims, such as chickens without beaks, feathers or feet, are beyond scientific capabilities, the rumors have persisted. Over the next several years, KFC continued to prosper and undergo changes. It refocused its strategy to increase the traffic in individual franchises by expanding the menu to appeal to a larger group of consumers. In 1993 the company added non-fried chicken to menus in the U.S. and Australia, and in 1994 KFC officially opened its 9,000th restaurant in the world, in Shanghai, China, and announced a $200 million investment over the next four years for 200 restaurants in 48 Chinese cities. 1995 saw the introduction of Colonel's Crispy Strips and Chunky Chicken Pot Pie. The first KFC restaurant in Moscow was opened. In 1996 KFC introduced Tender Roast chicken pieces and brought back one of the world's most recognized packages, the bucket, and in 1997 the company introduced Honey BBQ-flavored Tender Roast, Spicy Buffalo Crispy Strips and Chicken Twister, which are wrapped up chicken and vegetables. In spite of all these innovations and improvements, PepsiCo had become increasingly unhappy with the restaurant division. Aging facilities were requiring much of the parent company†s revenue to be spent on remodeling restaurants and thereby neglecting investment in the soft drink and snack food businesses. In an attempt to return to its roots, PepsiCo spun off the entire restaurant division into a publicly traded company, Tricon Global Restaurants in October 1997. In May 2002, with the acquisition of A&W and Long John Silver's, Tricon changed its name to Yum!. One of the main strategic issues presented in this case is the question of whether or not KFC should continue to expand globally and where. Since the early days of its inception, KFC has been involved outside the United States, having expanded to Canada in 1956 and then in a major move in 1969, to Japan and England. As of 2000, of the thirty-five largest fast-food chains, KFC was second only to McDonalds in the number countries penetrated. It is an arena where KFC has had enormous success and should continue to be involved. As of 2001 KFC had more than 500 outlets in China compared to only about 400 for McDonald†s. KFC beat McDonald†s to China by five years, opening their first outlet in Beijing in 1987. Market surveys in China by AC Nielson have indicated a preference for KFC over McDonald†s, both in terms of products and the outlets themselves. In addition, the Chinese have cultural bias in favor of chicken over beef. This is certainly an area where KFC should continue to exploit its advantage. Latin America is another global area where KFC has a strong presence. In the Central American, Caribbean and Mexican area, KFC is very competitive with McDonald†s and Burger King in terms of number of outlets. It has a particularly strong presence in Mexico and the Caribbean. Only in the Southern part of Latin America does KFC fall sharply behind McDonald†s. With the advent of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) the environment has changed in Mexico. A helpful factor is that one of KFC†s major suppliers, Tyson Foods, has major chicken facilities in Mexico. The political environment has changed with the election of Vicente Fox. KFC†s already strong presence should be expanded aggressively. They should also use this base in Mexico as a means of investing capital to further expand the franchise base throughout South America, in order to negate a first-mover advantage by McDonald†s and Wendy†s. Franchise outlets require less capital than company-owned restaurants, and are thus a quicker way in which to expand. Anther strategic issue facing KFC is the decision to franchise or expand by company-owned restaurants and whether to refranchise. The original strategy of Colonel Sanders and his immediate successors was to franchise and not build company-owned restaurants. This allowed them to grow quicker than they would have if KFC had primarily invested in company-owned restaurants. This strategy continued until the purchase of KFC by PepsiCo. Because of a clash in corporate culture between KFC and PepsiCo, and the presence of a strong franchisee group within KFC, PepsiCo embarked on a strategy of repurchasing weaker franchises and running them. At the time of the spin-off of KFC and the restaurant division into Tricon Restaurant Group in 1994, the percentage of company-owned restaurants was about 40%. After the spin-off, Tricon management began to divest of many of the company-owned outlets. This was the result of a change in attitude on the part of Tricon management. They did not believe in absolute control of all aspects of the local business and were willing to admit that the franchisees knew the local business better than they did. By the year 2000, the number of company-owned outlets had dropped to 27%. As shown in the SWOT analysis below, there are a number of factors in the external environment that KFC should consider when formulating and implementing strategies. Some of the more important aspects are brand name awareness, global market expansion, shrinking resources available to outlets and attacks by activist groups such as PETA. On the positive side, the brand name awareness is a tremendous asset for KFC. The move in 1996 to bring back the bucket was one of the best decisions in its history. Likewise, global market expansion presents an enormous opportunity to KFC to grow. They should build on their existing international base and continue to grow franchises. On the negative side, KFC, along with other fast-food companies, is facing a shrinking of the available potential outlet locations. The proliferation of fast-food outlets in this country has absorbed many of the prime locations. This is another reason to justify continued overseas expansion, where many prime spots remain. Just as potential locations have dwindled, so too has the labor pool. In spite of increased unemployment since 2000, there is still a problem attracting workers in the eighteen to twenty-four year old range. An interesting aspect of the external environment that has negatively impacted KFC has been the virulent attacks on KFC by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) and other similar groups. A number of celebrities have joined the campaign against KFC, which is focused on trying to force them to change the process of defeathering chickens. KFC has consistently refused to meet with the animal rights group for years, but because of concerns of losing market share in the inner city, has recently attempted to mediate this dispute through the offices of hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons and the Reverend Al Sharpton. Examining the list of top fifty U.S. fast-food restaurants for those sectors and companies that might be good investments we observe several companies that have a dominant position in their section. McDonald†s has a 35% market share among sandwich chains, Pizza Hut has a 44% share among pizza chains, KFC a 55% share among chicken chains, Golden Corral a 32% share among grill buffet chains and Dunkin† Donuts a 43% share among non-dinner concepts. Each of these companies would seem to be a good investment over the near term because of that dominant position in their sectors. In addition, financial data available for these companies confirm that the reason each is dominant in their sector is because they consistently produce above average financial returns. KFC continues to have a bright outlook for the future. It is well-positioned both domestically and international for continued growth. While it is unlikely ever to overtake McDonald†s, either in the domestic or overseas market, it is dominant in certain countries such as China and Mexico, and should be able to leverage this advantage to fend off other competitors, like Wendy†s and Burger King. Over the next five years look for KFC to have a strong number two position in the industry, particularly if it can address the problems with activist groups.

Scientific Method Research

This hypothesis will require research proving or disproving the question of mental illness causing a person's chance of becoming homeless to increase. I will first locate an area with a high volume of homeless individuals, as this research will include all genders and races. The participants of this study will include individuals who has suffered from any type of mental illness or had to undergo any form of psychiatric treatment. The next step would be to collect actual information showing current homeless rates and if at all possible, records indicating mental illness.I will also collect information from local homeless shelters and single-room housing programs in order to determine the availability of resources to the homeless. Food banks or kitchens will also be a great research aid, as these institutions provide free meals at no charge to these individuals, and lastly, make an attempt to gather information from a face to face conversation with people who are actually living on the streets. This method would probably be the most difficult, but if there is a hot meal involved, a survey, or form of questionnaire can be administered prior to receiving a meal with minimal force used to complete.To maximize participation, incentives such as gift cards or even a free night stay at a local motel may suffice. After my critical data is collected, I will create individual files with information consisting of dates of contact, as well as all pertinent information collected via questionnaires or face to face interviews in order to form tables and spreadsheets, showing common traits shared amongst these homeless individuals, then generate a separate table showing personnel suffering from mental illness. It is at this point in which these findings will be compared and thoroughly analyzed.This information will be presented in charts or graphs to show certain similarities between all variables. Research findings should be accurate and valid, if not, a new hypothesis concerni ng the issue of homelessness will be generated and studied again. However, if findings are true, this information may become beneficial to local community activist who serve the homeless population, as well as the mentally ill, and may provide the mental health professionals a clearer understanding of the relationship between mental illness and homelessness.This may lead to the question, how money who is mentally incapacitated can learn to sustain a healthy career and provide a living for themselves, or a family without medical attention. Ultimately, this information can be used to improve local programs within the community, or even inform congressmen to take better action responding more appropriately to the needs of the homeless population who are mentally ill. References Campaign for Mental Healthcare [http://www. Calypsos. Org/publications/access/homelessness. HTML] Corporation for Supportive Housing [http://www. Cash. Org/index. CFML? Obfuscation=page. Vicarage;paged

Benchmarking for Performance Evaluation Essay Example for Free

Benchmarking for Performance Evaluation Essay In September 2004, Wendy Wiley, the Northlake Bookstore manager, was considering the implications of a shocking development. For the first time in her seven years as the Bookstore manager, textbook sales for this fall had decreased from the prior fall sales. The sales decrease was approximately $180,000, or 3% of annual textbook sales. Wendy wanted to address this problem before it got worse. She found that this sales decrease was due to two emerging technology problems, possibly of equal magnitude: 1) the students’ increasing use of online textbook vendors, and 2) the professors’ increasing use of online textbook publishers. Wendy reported the bad sales news to her boss, Chuck Irwin, the Vice Chancellor of Finance at Northlake University. After commiserating with her, Chuck told her that he was not surprised by this sales problem and that she should consider how to deal with these emerging technologies in her next performance evaluation report by comparing the performance of the Northlake Bookstore against competitors using benchmarking analysis. This analysis would help Wendy find the strengths and weaknesses of the Bookstore. Additionally, Chuck wanted Wendy to develop a few key related short-term performance goals and related measures that could be used in future performance evaluations. He wanted to discuss the situation at their meeting next week, which was the annual review of the Bookstore’s performance for the prior fiscal year 2004 (July 2003 through June 2004). A benchmarking analysis was required by Chuck for the annual review of all the nonacademic departments under his management. Northlake is a private university, located in a major metropolitan area in the Midwest, with an annual enrollment of 12 ,700 students, mostly undergraduates. Northlake is quite dependent upon student tuition, which typically accounts for 60% of its total revenues. However, the Chancellor was concerned because donations and gifts to the University were down, possibly due to uncertain economic conditions and erratic stock market performance. Prior to becoming the Northlake Bookstore manager, Wendy had spent 15 years in retail sales, most recently as a Wal-Mart sales manager. She was an outgoing, supportive individual who really liked being a retail sales manager and enjoyed working with her employees. She strongly believed in continuous improvement of any sales department that she managed. Despite her extensive retail experience in the for-profit sector, this was her first experience working in an academic environment. Wendy occasionally became frustrated working with faculty due to their late or inaccurate book orders. However, she liked helping students and enjoyed working in an academic environment without all the pressures of a for-prof it business with aggressive sales and earnings targets like Wal-Mart. To prepare her benchmarking analysis report required for the upcoming annual performance evaluation of the Bookstore, Wendy had collected income statement, product line, and other performance measures for the last three fiscal years. To aid evaluation, she summarized the various Bookstore operations into five product lines: textbooks, supplies and sundries, clothing, software and accessories, and computers. The textbook product line included new texts, used texts, class notes (course packs), and general reference books. The supply and sundry line included school and office supplies, electronics, food, sundries, greeting cards, and miscellaneous campus department sales. The clothing line included all insignia clothing, gifts, and memorabilia. Wendy knew she needed to act fast to thoroughly analyze all the information needed for the Bookstore’s annual benchmarking analysis that Chuck and the Chancellor required. She had a lot of historical information and was wondering how to analyze this financial information for her benchmarking analysis report. Benchmarking is the process of identifying superior performance of other organizations for products, services, and processes, and then attempting to improve necessary areas with the goal of achieving similar excellence. The benchmarking process first became popular in 1989 after Xerox advertised its success with the tool; however, the tool was initially employed by Xerox in 1972. In fact, more than 70% of the Fortune 500 companies—which includes AT&T, Ford Motor Company, IBM, and Eastman Kodak—reported using benchmarking regularly. Benchmarking is useful in countless decision-making settings including performance evaluation, health and safety management, and supply chain management. To reach for greater standards of excellence, Ford would likely consider foreign automobile manufacturers that have been well known for high efficiency and quality, such as Toyota, the current world-wide leader in automobile sales. Wendy currently benchmarked the performance of the bookstore against other college bookstores and major booksellers. In performing a benchmarking analysis, it was imperative for Wendy to benchmark processes that were aligned with organizational strategic objectives. Since the Bookstore was a profit center, it was imperative that she compare the profitability of the various product lines with other universities. The Bookstore also had an objective to provide service excellence. Thus, if available, it would be beneficial for Wendy to benchmark customer satisfaction data with other universities. Once processes that were consistent with strategic objectives were identified, it was necessary to collect and analyze internal information vis-Ã ¡-vis external information from competitors. The benchmarking process did not stop once areas of excellence and inferior performance were identified. Rather, it was imperative for Wendy to identify how to sustain the areas of excellence and improve the areas of inferior performance. In determining how to improve poor performance, she needed to understand the reason behind the poor performance. Once that was attained, it would be possible to determine a long-term plan for improvement. A key role of the Bookstore was to supply the Northlake University community–which included but was not limited to faculty, students, alumni and parents–with textbooks, supplies, clothing and gifts, computers and software, and much more. The Bookstore’s formal mission statement was as follows: The Northlake Bookstore is an academic resource for the students, faculty, staff, alumni, and guests of the University. The Bookstore serves the University with a business presence dedicated to providing service excellence that meets or exceeds the needs of each customer and University department. The Bookstore played a significant role in enabling parents of freshmen to participate in getting their children ready for the first day of class. Additional temporary staff was hired to ensure there was adequate assistance available for new students and returning students who were purchasing their textbooks. These staff members were readily available and happy to answer any question that new parents or students might have regarding textbooks or the University in general. Also, congruent with the University laptop requirement for all students, the Bookstore sold computers and software. This was a great way for parents to enjoy onestop back-to-school shopping. Additionally, the Bookstore tried to promote the University as a brand name by selling clothing and accessories with the University logo and/or name. Availability of clothing and accessories was also a service provided to students, parents, and alumni who wanted to show their support for the school. Sales of merchandise with the University logo indirectly promoted the University, but the Bookstore did not try to formally create alumni support nor was that a formal goal. This was the function of the University Alumni Advancement (funding) office. As indicated by the mission statement, by the role taken to familiarize new parents and students, and by the sale of merchandise with the University logo, the Bookstore operated in a manner aimed at achieving high customer satisfaction. To measure customer satisfaction the Bookstore conducted an annual customer satisfaction survey and a separate faculty satisfaction survey. Customer suggestion forms were also readily available on the Bookstore website. In her years as the Bookstore manager, Wendy had developed various financial performance measures to help assess the performance of the Bookstore. Over the last few years, she had used these measures as part of her benchmarking analysis. She felt fortunate to have a fairly comprehensive benchmarking database available to her. It was provided annually to all bookstore members free of charge by the National Association of College Stores (NACS). The only requirement was that each bookstore had to contribute its own data to the benchmarking database in order to use it. The NACS database included income statement, product line, and other types of benchmarks. With the looming threat from online textbook vendors, Wendy had started to benchmark Northlake’s textbook prices against the major online textbook vendors. She also tracked mail orders and Web orders from Northlake’s own website (started in 2000). Her task now was how best to use this benchmark information. She believed that her first step was to compare her current financial and operating results with the benchmark data to pinpoint areas in need of improvement. This analysis would likely uncover some areas that needed her attention, which would be useful in identifying areas in need of improvement. Benchmarking for Performance Evaluation. (2016, Dec 24).

International Strategic Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

International Strategic Management - Essay Example The business strategy of Aldi has been truly robust; it stood the severe test of the ongoing financial crisis. The brand image of Aldi has been all the more strengthened through the word-of-mouth communication. According to industry reports, more than 1, 72,000 households have been to Aldi stores during 2007-2008. Another attribute of Aldi’s success has been its foray into the fresh fruit and vegetable segment (Grocery Report 2008, n.d.). According to latest reports, the number of stores of Aldi has surpassed 200 and it is all set to increase the number even more. The huge expansion plans are being complemented with proposals to build three warehouses in Sydney and Melbourne (Palmer D., January 21, 2009). In order to analyse the business performance of Aldi, an understanding of the business environment of Australia is necessary. A traditional method of analysis will be followed in the process where the macro environment will be researched through PEST analysis. The Australian economy is stable in terms of its political environment. This has been instrumental in generating a decent growth for the economy since 2000 (The Economic and Political Situation, end of 2002). The Australian government is an ardent advocate of the free market economy and hence is linked to the major countries of the world through foreign trade. The centre stage of Australian politics is shared by three political parties; The Liberal Party, The Nationals and The Australian Labour Party. The Liberal Party and The Nationals are conservative in nature, representing the commercial interests of the urban and rural business class respectively. The Australian Labour Party was formed by the labour unions. This party has been supporting the cause of workers and labourers with a leftist attitude. They are described as a â€Å"social democratic party†. There has been a marked change in the government’s strategy towards providing help to needy families.